The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 22, 2002, Page 4, Image 4
4 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, April 22, 2002
SOUND OFF ONLINE POLL
Create message boards at What USC sports star will make the
www.dailygamecock.com or biggest impact at the professional level?
send letters to the editor to www.dailygamecock.com.
gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com Results published on Fridays.
THE LEADER
Lurking issues
Work is rapidly progressing on the Strom Thurmond
Fitness and Wellness Center, scheduled to open in
January; streetscaping is in full effect on Sumter
Street; anc\ the new arena’s management is already
scheduling high-profile acts to come to Columbia.
But problems lurk beneath the surface.
The presidential search
The Board of Trustees was supposed to have chosen a
new president by May. But that likely won’t happen,
creating more tension about what the new president
will bring. An interim president, which is an option,
would lack the power and resources to implement a
forward-thinking plan for USC. The board needs to start
communicating its intentions, and the presidential
search committee must work more diligently to find a
suitable replacement before time runs out.
The search for deans
Several colleges still are without permanent deans.
The College of Journalism and
Mass Communications is
expected to name one of four
choices this week, but other
schools, like the'College of
Social Work, still lack strong
leaders.
But what’s enticing to a
candidate about a university with budget problems
and a continuing hiring freeze?
Faculty salaries
The American Association of University
Professors reported last week that U.S. faculty
salaries rose 3.8 percent since last year. But USC’s
professors have been paid only an average of 4
percent more in the past 10 years.
Salaries are determined by the state legislature,
but there aren’t plans to allocate more than usual
next year. Palms has been voicing concerns about
faculty salaries since his start as president, but little
has been done. And professors are starting to teach
elsewhere, where they are paid what they deserve.
USC is undergoing several changes that will shape
the way the school is viewed in the future. But the
focus is on externalities, like campus beautification,
when serious internal issues and searches for key
administrators struggle to draw and retain quality
professionals.
The school will look great on the outside, but will it
be run effectively on the inside?
USC is making
changes to look
great on the
outside, but is it
really looking
that good on the
inside?
GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS
Wednesday’s “Winners and Sinners” should have clarified that
WUSC’s music is freely distributed to the station as a means of
promotion. The Gamecock regrets the error.
If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us
at gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com.
ABOUT THE GAMECOCK
Mary Hartney
Editor in Chief
Ginny Thornton
News Editor
Kevin Feliner
Asst. News Editor
Mackenzie Clements
Viewpoints Editor
Carrie Phillips
The Mix Editor
Justin Bajan
Asst. The Mix Editor
Chris Foy
Sports Editor
J. Keith Allen
Asst. Sports Editor
Brandon Larrabee
Special Projects
Adam Beam
Contributing Editor
Martha Wright
Design Editor
Page Designers
Crystal Dukes, Sarah
McLaulin, Katie Smith,
David Stagg
Kyle Almond
Copy Desk Chief
Copy Editors
Crystal Boyles, Andrew
Festa. Jason Harmon,
Jill Martin, Paul Rhine
Mark Hartney
Online Editor
Corey Davis
Photo Assignments
Photo Editors
Robert Gruen, Candi
Hauglum
Kelly Petruska
Community Affairs
CONTACT INFORMATION
Offices on third floor of the Russell House.
Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@hotmail.com
University Desk: gamecockudesk@hotmail.com
Viewpoints: gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com
The Mix: gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
Sports: gamecocksports@hotmail.com
Online: www.dailygamecock.com
Newsroom: 777-7726
EDITORIAL BOARD
Kyle Almond,
Mackenzie Clements,
Chris Foy, Jason
Harmon, Mary Hartney.
Brandon Larrabee,
Carrie Phillips. Ginny
Thornton, Martha
Wright
STUDENT MEDIA
Erik Collins
Faculty Adviser
Ellen Parsons
Director of Student
Media
Susan King
Creative Director
Carolyn Griffin
Business Manager
Sarah Scarborough
Advertising Manager
Sherry F. Holmes
Classified Manager
Creative Services
Derek Goode, Todd
Hooks, Earl Jones.
Jennie Moore,
Melanie Roberts,
Beju Shah
Advertising Staff
Betsy Baugh,
Amanda Ingram.
Denise Levereaux,
Jackie Rice, Gloria
Simpson. Stacey
Todd
The Gamecock is the
student newspaper of
the University of South
Carolina and is
published Monday,
Wednesday and Friday
during the fall and
spring semesters and
nine times during the
.summer with the
exception of university
holidays and exam
periods. Opinions
expressed in The
Gamecock are those
of the editors or
author and not those
of the University of
South Carolina. The
Board of Student
Publications and
Communications is
the publisher of The
Gamecock. The
Department of Student
Media is the
newspaper's parent
organization. The
Gamecock is
supported in part by
student activities
fees. One free copy
per reader. Additional
copies may be
purchased for one
dollar each from the
Department of Student
Media.
TO PLACE AN AD
The Gamecock
1400 Greene Street
Columbia, S.C. 29208
Advertising: 777-3888
Classified: 777-1184
Fax: 777-6482
GAM ECOCK GOODBYES Forthe rest of the semester, the normal Viewpoints columnists will be taking some time off. Instead, graduating staff
members oflhe Gamecock will be writing their final contributions after years of late nights and missed classes - all forthe love ofThe 'Cock.
'sCiet>rr\ST5 PgvgUQflNfr rtV5CL.t-&v\i~Oi*Kr
/ vMA
\T'5 "TY/we )
v_YovP
V I / l\ 1_
CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
Looking North for my inspiration
GINNY THORNTON
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
A sweet Southern girl
learns to be a bitch.
I wouldn’t trade my
hometown for anything.
There’s nowhere else in the
world I could have ridden on a
pontoon boat in the Striped Bass
parade or gone to high school
parties at a closed dairy farm.
And I suspect there aren’t
many other places where you
can still charge a purchase at
the full-service gas station to
your family account.
So why can you do that in
Manning, S.C.? It’s about trust.
In a small town, there are no
secrets. If you’re up to no good,
someone will find out. and soon.
Because I grew up there, I
came to college naive, sweet
and ready to trust anyone. But
in these four years, I’ve learned
some valuable lessons.
While I still don’t think most
people are out to do me wrong,
I’ve learned that strangers rarely
have my best interest at heart.
My roommate is from
Chicago. She agrees with me
that Southern women aren’t
properly trained to defend
themselves.
She’s also the main cause for
my latest theory: In the North,
girls are taught to be bitchy.
How does this work? I’m not
sure, but I have a feeling they
must fit it in as an elementary
school elective, like art or
music. By the time these women
come to college, they have it
worked out to an exact science.
Four years of college have
given me a taste of how it feels
to be wimpy. But my roommate
has cured me of that—I no
longer say “I’m sorry” as often,
and I’ve even been known to say
mean things.
But if I could go back four
years and give myself some
advice, it would look something
like this...
BE DEMANDING.
Sure it’s nice to take care of
everyone else, but don’t neglect
your own sanity.
Did you have a bad day?
Don’t just swallow your
problems while your neighbor
talks about her latest hangnail.
Make her listen to you. Then
make her go with you to have a
latte. It’s the least she can do.
Granted, there’s a fine line
between being rightfully
demanding and annoying, but
the point is this: Don’t spend
your life trying to be everyone’s
hero or counselor.
BE SELFISH WITH YOUR TIME.
You don’t owe it to anyone.
View it as a commodity and
make sure everyone else does,
too. You’ll meet many college
friends who want you to spend
all afternoon watching TV and
eating M&Ms. And there will
always be that creepy guy down
the hall who wants you to go out
with him. But if you don’t want
to go, tell him so. And don’t feel
bad about it.
ASK QUESTIONS.
Don’t accept everything you
hear just to make people happy.
If your friend asks for advice
about the 50-year-old married
man she’s dating, ask her why
she’s ruining her life. If the guy
in class is copying your test
answers, ask him why he didn’t
study last night. The truth
might hurt, but it helps in the
long run.
PRIORITIZE YOUR LOYALTIES.
Give your best to your family
and then to your friends. After
that, if you have to insult a
stranger, so what? You don’t
owe it to the world to be nice or
to help them out.
I’m not suggesting that you
become mean on purpose, but
just remember you don’t exist
to accommodate everyone else.
NEVER RUN INTO A
PROFESSOR IN A BAR THE SAME
DAY YOU SKIPPED CUSS.
OK, so that doesn’t relate to
women or Southerners in
particular, but it’s something I
wish I had known four years ago.
Thornton is a fourth-year public
relations student. She began
working at The Gamecock last
summer as a reporter and is now
news editor.
IN YOUR OPINION
Founding Fathers
weren’t Christian
I'd like to provide a history
lesson for people who still
think the United States was
founded on Christianity — a
deeply entrenched, though
still inaccurate, myth about
American culture.
George Washington,
Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin
Franklin and other Founding
Fathers were not Christian.
They practiced Deism, a belief
system denoting the creation
of the universe by a divine
intelligence, but containing no
sense of personal revelation or
salvation of the sort found in
Christianity. Franklin and
Jefferson, as well as Thomas
Paine, were all known to have
made some fairly disparaging
comments about Christianity
in their time.
I refer anyone interested to
the following Web sites
containing quotations from
relevant historical documents:
www.dimensional.com/
-randl/founders.htm,
religion.aynrand.org/
quotes.html and
www.theology.edu/joumal/
volume2/ushistor.htm.
As to the “In God We
Trust” on U.S. currency —
added in the 1950s — I refer
you to the following source:
www.sullivancounty.com/
nfO/dispatch/
fathers_quote2.htm
I hope :hese references can
help to dispel widely held
myths about our nation’s
foundations.
I’m not writing this as any
slight toward Christianity but
only to make this point:
Freedom for all religions, not
allegiance to one in
particular, was and is the root
of our government.
CLAY GILBERT
FINE ARTS GRADUATE STUDENT
Notebook paper is
just perfect for me
Way to go, somebody old!
f’d like to commend the fine
soul that decided to make
common notebook paper 8 and
1/2 inches wide. My hat is off
to you, my friend!
Have you ever realized how
many times you take a note in
class or finish jotting down a
sentence and find yourself
right there at the end of the
paper? For instance, if I ended
this letter right here, I’d be
really close to that hard-to-see
red line.
Instead, I’m going to end
with a question that even the
inventors of paper probably
pondered: What would our
lives be like if our knees bent
the opposite way?
IAN DURNEY
FOURTH-YEAR FINANCE STUDENT
Sexuality should be
a personal issue
It’s important to have;
weeks on this campus that are
dedicated to things like AIDS
awareness, sexual violence and
child abuse.
It’s not necessary or
appropriate to have a week
dedicated to homophobia
awareness.
In fact, I find homophobia
awareness week to be offensive.
I don’t want to see individuals
from homosexual and bisexual
organizations in front of the
Russell House trying to educate
me about homophobia,
homosexuality, tolerance or
acceptance.
If you’re gay, I don’t want to
know about it. It’s none of my
business. I have no right to tell
anyone how to live his or her
life, and I find it offensive when
organizations such as the BGLA
try to force me to accept their
alternative lifestyles.
If you’re homosexual, fine,
but don’t flaunt it or rub it in my
face. I’m not offended by your
sexuality, but I am offended
when you rub it in my face. I
won’t discriminate against you
because of your sexuality, and I
won’t harass you or assault you.
All I ask is that you keep your
sexuality your business and no
one else’s.
BRIAN D. PHILLIPS
FOURTH-YEAR CRIMINAL JUSTICE
STUDENT
Submission Policy
Letters to the editor should be less than
300 words and include name, phone
number, professional title or year and
major, if a student. E-mail letters to
gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com.
Letters will be edited. Anonymous letters
will not be published. Call the newsroom
at 777-7726 for more information.
Earning
the public’s
confidence
MARTHA WRIGHT
GAMECOCHVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Journalists must work
to eliminate their biases.
In a little more than two weeks,
I’ll be graduated into the real
world of journalism. Journalists,
as I’ve been reminded often, are
reviled just slightly less than
lawyers and politicians. We just
don’t make as much money or
wield as much influence.
I can see how people could get
exasperated. At our pinnacle, we
expose the corruption of the
Nixon administration. At our
lowest, we call elections for
Dewey instead of Truman.
Real or perceived, “media
bias” is cited — rightfully — as a
stain on our credibility.
Sometimes, we pick up bias
from high places. Think of a
phrase introduced lately by
President Bush and his
spokesman, Ari Fleischer:
“homicide bomber.” This is the
buzzword that’s a stand-in for
“suicide bomber,” a term for
people who blow themselves up,
an event that’s now almost daily
in the ongoing battle between
Israelis and Palestinians.
What taints this term tor
journalists is its political slant and
klutziness: a chilling term turned
biased and inaccurate. Its use is
an obvious attempt to parrot the
president. And while homicide is
clearly the bomber’s intention, it’s
not always the result.
“Homicide bomber” has been
picked up by popular media and
media figures — Fox News
Channel, the New York Post,
Larry King—who are eagerly
aping the White House. This
language in an opinion piece is
expected. In news reports, it
should be off-limits.
It’s a dire mistake for the
media to repeat jargon. Contrast
the epithets for Palestinian
suicide bombers. On one side,
we have “martyr.” On the other
is “terrorist.” But “suicide
bomber” is still preferred by
most news services, including
the venerated Associated Press.
I think it remains the most
neutral and accurate option.
Sympathizers for Israel
complain that the U.S. media is
pro-Palestinian. About 1,000
readers of the Los Angeles Times
suspended their subscriptions
for just that reason. Conversely,
the Egyptian paper Al-Ahram
wrote in an interview this week
that “America’s media... is the
most narrow-minded and
narrow-visioned.... In America,
they only see what Israel wants
them to see!”
In my journalism education
at USC, I’ve been taught better. I
know these assertions represent
extremes of thought. But if
people think U.S. media are
biased toward either side, do we
average out to impartial? No.
Giving equal time is different
from finding truth.
When people see “bias”
everywhere, they’re ignoring
that journalism values honesty.
At reputable publications, a
liberal journalist will expose a
liberal politician’s lies. That’s
how media earn and keep the
public’s trust.
I trust that there’s a truth to
be found in every story. Under
this premise, anyone could be a
journalist. Bias comes only from
people who are either beholden
to someone or ignorant.
Like weapons, words are
loaded, and journalists must
learn to fight fairly. To be a
promoter of truth, we must keep
our ears and eyes open. Think
critically. Research. And shut
off Fox News once in a while.
Wright is a fourth-year print
journalism student. She began
working at The Gamecock in the
first semester of her junior year
and has been copy desk chief
design editor and editor in chief.